Knitted fabric



KNITTED FABRIC William Schumann, High Point, N. C., assignor toDiarlonlzl Hosiery Corporation, a corporation of New '3' Claims. (Cl.66-178) Thisinvention relates to the art of knitting, more particularlyto the manufacture of knitted fabric such as hosiery from syntheticyarn.

As conducive to an understanding of the invention, it is noted that inthe manufacture of womens full-fashioned nylon hosiery, mono-filamentyarn of ten or fifteen denier is generally used to provide a sheer,attractive fabric.

Where such fabric is knitted with single loops each dependent upon thenext adjoining course and loop for the permanence of the fabric, byreason of the relative weakness of the fine threads, they are apt tosnag and tear with a resultant run in the stocking. Furthermore, suchfine denier plastic fabric made with single loops is smooth and slickand such fabric tends to cling to any object which it contacts,particularly human hands, which often causes picks and pulls in thefabric with resultant damage thereto.

It is accordingly among the objects of the invention to provide sheer,attractive full-fashioned hosiery of desired dull appearance whichutilizes fine, mono-filament plastic threads, which hosiery has the samehigh resistance to wear, snags and runs as heavy, relativelyunattractive service weight fabric and which may be made by a relativelysimple method utilizing conventional hosiery knitting equipment.

To form the stocking, two mono-filament threads of suitable plastic suchas nylon of any given denier are mounted in the single conventionalthread carrier generally used to knit stockings. One of the threads isin the normal state generally received from the manufacturer, i. e., itis not pre-shrunk and the other thread is completely pre-shrunk, so thatno additional shrinkage will occur during the conventional pre-boardingor heating operation which is performed to mold and set the stocking tothe desired shape after the stocking is knit to form plural threadloops. The knitted stocking fabric, acconding to the invention, thuscomprises plural thread loops having one of the threads of each loopexerting tension against the other at the cross-over portions of saidloops, said threads being bonded together at said cross-over portions.

This application is a division of my copending application, Serial No.444,895, filed July 21, 1954, now Patent No. 2,715,762.

In the following drawings in which are shown one or more of variouspossible embodiments of the several features of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view of a pair of mono-filament threads,

United States Patent 2,795 ,123 Patented June 11, 1 957 ice same stateas received from the manufacturer, i. e., it is not pre-shrunk. Theother thread 12 is pre-shrunk so that no'additional shrinkage will occurafter knitting and duringthe pre-boarding operation.

The two threads are positioned in one and the same thread carrier of aconventional knitting machine and when knitted by a common needle, willintertwine as shown in Fig. 1. Although the threads will generallyintertwine in irregular manner, for ease of illustration they have beenshown to be regularly intertwined in the drawings', it being understoodthat in an entire piece of fabric in many cases theindividual threadsmay lie side by side. After the fabric is knit in conventional manner,the

loop L of the'fabric will have the same general appearance as the loopsformed in single yarn fabric except that each "*loop will 'have twothreads which lie side by side, as

shown in Figs. 3 and 4. After the stocking comes off the knittingmachine, it is shapeless and is placed on a suitable form, and issubjected to heat, which may be live steam, in a box or retort to moldthe stocking to desired shape which is retained for the life of thestocking.

When the fabric is subjected to heat during the preboarding process, theloop formation of the thread 12 which has been pre-shrunk, does notchange, but the loop formation of the thread 11 that has not beenpreshrunk, will shrink and become smaller than the loop formation of thepre-shrunk thread, so that the threads will become spaced from eachother at least partially along the bights of the loop as at thepositions shown at S.

As the non-pre-shrunk thread 11 shrinks during the pre-boarding process,wherever it crosses a portion of another non-pre-shrunk thread 11 or apro-shrunk thread 12, as at C, it will exert tension thereon to form akink or lock, thereby creating resilience to pull, with the result thatthe engaging non-pre-shrunk threads and engaging non-pre-shrunk andpre-shrunk threads will securely bond together, rendering the fabricmore resistant to picks and pulls when it comes into contact withanything rough. Furthermore, as the threads are irregularly twisted, asshown in Fig. 1, the loops L will also be of irregular shape due to suchshrinkage of the non-pre-shrunk thread, with resultant vdesired dullappearance.

Due to the spacing of the threads at the positions designated S, thethreads are subjected to individual rather than joint snagging with theresult that if one of the threads should break, the other thread willprevent running of the fabric. Furthermore, as a result of the securebonding at the multiplicity of cross-over points C throughout thefabric, the loops are snag-resistant and even if both threads of a loopshould break, as the adjacent cross-over points C of the threads aresecurely bonded together as above described, the danger of runs in thefabric will be minimized and the free ends may be severed so that theappearance of the fabric is substantially unimpaired.

Although as illustratively described herein, two monofilament threadsare used, it is within the scope of the invention to use a mono-filamentthread together with multi-filament thread, as long as one of thethreads is pre-shrunk and the other is not.

As a result of the method above described, a knitted fabric is providedwhich, although it may be made from fine plastic thread, is durable,long lasting and not subject to picks, snags or runs, and thoughespecially useful for full-fashioned nylon hosiery may be used for anyother knitted articles.

As many changes could be made in the above article, and many apparentlywidely diiferent embodiments of this invention could be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying 1. A,knitted "stocking fabric comprising plurahthreadi loops, at leastjone ofthe threadszbeing;preeshnunkand the other non-pre-shrunk, priortopre=boardingiofi the:

fabric, said fabric having cross-over portions at least where adjacentloops cross, one of the threadsv of eachloop exerting tension againstthe other at thecross-over portions. ofsaid; loops, saidthreads beingbonded together at said, cross-over portionsiand. spaced from each,other, at

leastpartially along,the)bights of thB-IOCPS.

2., A knitted. stocking fabric comprising,.plurallthread; loops, at!least one of the threadsbeing ,pre-shrnnk. and. the

other nonepre-shrunkmrior to;pne -boardingj.of the fabric, saidfahriehaving cross-over. portions, at least where adjacent loops-cross, eachof, said, threads being of monofilament material, one of; thethreads'bfeach,loopiexerte1g0 ing tension against the: other at thecross-over portions of said loops, said threads being bonded together atsaid cross-over portions.

3. A knitted stocking fabric comprising plural thread loops, at leastone of the threads being pre-shrunk and the other non-pre-shrnnk, priorto prel-boarding of the fabric, said loops having cross-over portions atleast where adjacent loops cross, each of said threads being of monofilament material, saidthreads. being bonded together. at,

said; cross-over'portions and spaced'fronl each. other'at leastpartially along the bights of said loops.

References Cited in the file'of this patent UNITED STATES, PATENTS2,396,166 Faucette May. 5, .1946 2,460,674 Bihaly Feb. 1, 1949 2,536,163Feild'et a1. Jan. 2, 1951 2,594,521 Tingley Apr. 29, 1952 2,636,369 TaitApr.- 28,1953

